This newspaper (chinatimesnet.CN) reporter Yu Yujin reports from Beijing.
After frequent ** equity, Wanda Film could not maintain control.
On the afternoon of December 6, Wanda Film announced that 51% of the company's controlling shareholder, Beijing Wanda Investment, hereinafter referred to as "Wanda Investment"), intends to transfer 51% of the equity to Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management, which is China Ruyi (00136HK) Chairman Ke Liming is directly or indirectly 100% shareholding. If the final implementation of this matter is completed, the control of Wanda Films will be changed. In July this year, China Ruyi announced that its company, Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production, was 226.2 billion yuan to acquire 49% of the shares of Wanda Investment held by Wanda Culture Group.
If China Confucianism makes a move in July, it can also be interpreted as helping Wanda tide over the difficulties, and this time taking control of Wanda Films, it can be seen that China Confucianism or Ke Liming's ambitions in film channels, especially with the trial implementation of the "split distribution" system for domestic films, Wanda Films will also have strong competitiveness with their own advantages.
Control changes hands
On the morning of the suspension, Wanda Film gave the reason. On the afternoon of December 6, Wanda Film announced that it received a notice on the same day that the company's indirect controlling shareholder, Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group, hereinafter referred to as "Wanda Cultural Industry Group") and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Hengrun Enterprise Management and Development, the actual controller of the company, Wang Jianlin, intends to transfer 51% of the company's controlling shareholder, Beijing Wanda Investment, to Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management.
On the evening of July 23 this year, China Ruyi announced that on July 20, 2023, Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production Co., Ltd., a controlled structure entity) as the transferee, entered into an equity transfer agreement with Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group as the transferor, agreeing that Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production will be 226.2 billion yuan to acquire 49% of the shares of Wanda Investment held by Wanda Culture Group.
At that time, China Ruyi had stated that Shanghai Ruyi had no intention of appointing directors to Wanda Investment at this time, had no intention of participating in its day-to-day operations and management, that Wanda Investment would not be a subsidiary of Shanghai Ruyi, and that its financial results would not be consolidated into China Ruyi's consolidated financial statements. At the same time, Shanghai Ruyi does not directly hold any shares of Wanda Film, nor can it directly enjoy the voting rights and dividend rights under the articles of association of Wanda Film, and only indirectly holds listed investments as a passive investor.
But in less than 5 months, the situation is different, the new deal will make Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group, Wang Jianlin and others completely lose the equity of Wanda Investment, and then lose control of Wanda Films. According to public information, Wanda Investment currently directly holds 20% of the equity of Wanda Film, which is the largest shareholder, and Shen County Rongzhi Xingye Management Consulting Center (Limited Partnership) holds 1021%, the second largest shareholder, Lu Lili holds 826%, the third largest shareholder.
In fact, since the beginning of this year, Wanda-related companies have repeatedly **Wanda Film shares with ** funds. On July 10, Wanda Investment signed a share transfer agreement with Lu Lili, intending to transfer its Wanda Film 1 to Lu Lili800,000,000 shares, transfer** approximately 217.3 billion yuan. On July 18, Wanda Investment once again planned to transfer its unrestricted tradable shares of Wanda Film to Shen County Rongzhi Xingye Management Consulting Center (Limited Partnership).7.7 billion shares, 13.7 billion shares transferred**17 yuan shares, transfer ** about 233.6 billion yuan.
The Confucian system is also accurate that Wanda is in urgent need of cash flow, and then comes**, on the surface, it can be regarded as a favor;The shareholder behind China Ruyi is Tencent, which has always had the ambition of laying out offline, and this time it has been realized through China Ruyi. Xiang Kai, a young Chinese playwright and director, told the China Times.
Ke Liming's "abacus".
As the leader behind the counterparty of this transaction, Ke Liming has long been more and more well-known to the public through skillful capital operations.
Tianyancha shows that the shareholders of Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management are Ke Liming and Beijing Zhumeng Qiming Culture and Art, which hold 99% and 1% of the shares respectively, and Beijing Zhumeng Qiming Culture and Art*** is also 100% owned by Ke Liming.
Ke Liming, born in the 80s, is a "layman" in the film industry, and he entered the investment banking industry in Hong Kong after graduating abroad. But after the financial crisis, Ke Liming decided to start a business and began to invest in film and television. The magic comedy "Little Apple" was a smash hit, and the first hand behind it was Ke Liming, and "Little Apple" was also the promotional song of the movie "Old Boy Raptors Crossing the River", which he voted and controlled as the owner of Ruyiying, the actual controller. In this industry that relies on popular models, Ke Liming bet on many movies, especially the guaranteed release of "Hello, Li Huanying", which won 541.4 billion domestic box office, ranking among the top three in film history.
At present, Ke Liming is under the helm of China Ruyi (formerly known as "HengTen Network"), formerly known as Masg Group, which is mainly engaged in investment and trading**, provision of financing, property investment and manufacturing and sales of photographic products and accessories. In 2015, China Evergrande and Tencent Holdings became the owners of HengTen Network, which initially focused on smart community services.
On October 26, 2020, HengTen Network announced that it would wholly acquire all the shares of Ruyi Films and Pumpkin Films through allotment and issuance of shares and equity subscription, and comprehensively transform into an Internet technology company, focusing on building a first-class businessHowever, in November 2021, with the departure of Evergrande, Ke Liming, the actual controller of Ruyi Pictures, became the largest shareholder of HengTen Network;Tencent Holdings became the second largest shareholder. After Evergrande left, "HengTen Network" also officially completed the name change in February 2022.
And the reception of Wanda Films this time is also a good business for Ke Liming and Chinese Confucianism.
Xiang Kai told reporters, "If you look at the long-term development of the film and television industry, upstream content film companies should acquire movie theaters and actively lay out offline channels. β
The so-called "split distribution" system means that a film can no longer be screened by theaters across the country, and the film company can choose to provide better conditions for the theater chain or cinema investment management company to trade. On the one hand, the film company can increase its revenue by selecting theaters that can provide a high proportion of film scheduling, a long screening cycle, and a large number of screeningsOn the other hand, split distribution can improve the utilization of theaters and screens, thereby increasing the revenue of exhibitors. In addition, the distribution of separate lines meets the diversified demand for film consumption, and at the same time gives more films the opportunity to be released.
A brokerage analyst told this reporter that the distribution of sub-lines is also good for large cinema line companies with a large number of cinemas and good locations.
"Sweet and sweet" in theaters
Wanda Films is a veritable head cinema.
With the elimination of uncertainty in theater operation after the epidemic, the return of film and television content production to normal, and the increasing supply of high-quality film content, the domestic film market will continue to recover in 2023. As a leading domestic cinema chain, Wanda Film's overall recovery degree is better than the industry average.
Wanda Film's revenue in the first three quarters reached 1134.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4698% and a net profit of 111.5 billion yuan to turn losses into profits. In the first three quarters of 2023, Wanda Film's domestic theaters will achieve a box office of 62200 million yuan (excluding service fees), a year-on-year increase of 676%, an increase of 52%γIn a single quarter, Wanda Films' domestic theaters in 2023Q3 achieved a box office of 25700 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1021%, an increase of 21 compared to the same period in 20192%γ
From the perspective of the industry, according to the statistics of Maoyan Professional Edition, in the first three quarters of 2023, the national film market will achieve a box office of 4142.8 billion yuan (excluding service fees, the same below), recovering to 92 in the same period of 201987%γ
In addition, as of the end of September 2023, Wanda Film has 877 theaters with 7,338 screens in China, including 709 directly-operated theaters with 6,159 screens and 168 asset-light theaters with 1,179 screens. Wanda Film's cumulative market share in the first three quarters was 165%, the operating efficiency continued to improve, and the industry position was stable.
Wanda Film said on the interactive platform in November that as an important direction for the development of China's film market, sub-line distribution will fully release the enthusiasm of all parties involved in production, distribution and screening, contribute to the differentiated competition of films of different sizes, and can also meet the needs of audiences and increase the box office of films to the greatest extent according to the preferences and viewing Xi habits of different audiences. At the 24th National Film Promotion Conference, Wanda Film signed a total of 13 films for distribution.
The exact consideration for the deal has not yet been revealed. And will China Confucianism face financial pressure?"The 'Confucianism' is about to swallow Wanda Films this time, and it should have been prepared in advance in terms of funding, and funding is not a big problem," Xiang Kai further said, but after taking control of Wanda Films, considering the problem of monetization, it will put pressure on China Confucianism in content production, and China Confucianism may enhance commercial content.
Regarding the specific matters of the acquisition and the company's strategic planning in terms of content and channels in the future, the reporter interviewed China Ruyi, but as of press time, the other party has not replied.
Editor-in-charge: Huang Xingli Editor-in-chief: Han Feng.